Top 20 Franchises for Under $100k

Forbes nominates 20 largely unheard of franchises for under $100,000 in initial funding to be the best to invest in. That’s no easy feat since they weren’t able to gather how much of a return a business investor might reasonably expect.

You won't find any estimates hiding in the 300-page franchise disclosure document (formerly called a "uniform franchise offering circular"), which franchisers must publish by law. While the documents lay out lots of information about the financial health of the franchiser, individual franchisees' performances are anybody's guess. [Forbes, Top 20 Franchises to Start]

Still, Forbes looked at other factors, such as the ratio of support staff to franchise locations to figure what an investor was getting for his investment. It also wanted only established and stable brands. Forbes stated, ”We wanted at least 50 [units in a chain], and more was better.” In understanding unit level performance, it had to fall back on survival rates as measured by percentage of closings during the last five years.

American Poolplayers Association, Christmas Decor and Bonus Building Care are some of the top franchise choices. There's a few well-known brands listed too, like Roto-Rooter, 7-Eleven or Kumon. The magazine was helped by Robert Bond, publisher of Bond’s Franchising Guides and chief executive of World Franchising Network, a franchise database.

So here is Forbes’ list of the top 20 franchises to buy that will get you more support staff, less closed locations and more brand as shown by franchise size for your investment buck compared to other franchisors who have franchises to sell for $100k or less. Hopefully, their average franchise and you will make reasonable money in the process. But that’s anyone’s guess.